


And I can call you "friend"

by havuhadanosejob



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, Friendship, One Shot, Paris - Freeform, kinda one-night stand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 11:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3567818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havuhadanosejob/pseuds/havuhadanosejob
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cosima meets Delphine at a party in Paris.<br/>Spans a few years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I can call you "friend"

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the song Like The Moon by Future Islands. It's random and has little to do with the fic. But this band is great if you wanna check them out.

The party was nice. Surprisingly. Being organized by scientists for scientists. Classy, just fancy enough, lots of alcohol, good company. Very nice indeed. Said good company ranged from the most renowned scientists from all fields to one particular woman.

 

 _Dr Delphine Cormier_ , she'd said.

 _French then_ , Cosima had answered. Admittedly not her best retort, but she was tired. The convention was exhausting in itself. Navigating the streets of Paris was nerve-wracking. Not that the the city was busier or faster than New York, but the people were colder, harsher, meaner or maybe, probably, just indifferent and blasé.

 _Parisian, yes_ , she'd replied, like Paris wasn't France. Cosima had come to understand there was some kind of rift between Parisians and provincials. She supposed it was like most capitals. She was not one to judge anyway. Especially when she just wanted to seduce the beautiful doctor in front of her.

 _I'm from San Francisco myself_ , she'd smiled _the_ smile.

 _This explains it then_ , she'd nodded, no apparent judgment in her voice.

Seeing the discreet look up and down her body, she'd asked _Explains what?_

 _I'm sorry, nothing._ No shame, no apology.

Staying polite, she'd only asked _Why don't I believe you?_ and tightly smiled.

 _I did not mean to offend you. You just have this air about you._ Cosima had just witnessed how good of an actress this Delphine was. Politely rejecting advances while networking was an art in itself, one she thought she'd mastered. Apparently not. So she just stared.

 _Really. Please don't misinterpret my remark. I meant that you seem careless and fascinated. In a good way_ , she'd tried to explain. And Cosima thought it seemed genuine. She wanted it to be genuine. Not about her thumb ring, or her apparent flirtation. So she'd kept at it.

 

Except she'd stopped flirting consciously at some point and really started enjoying the conversation. Mostly about science, starting with their respective work. She realized she'd either misjudged Delphine or the smug Parisian air was a cover, one she'd dropped very quickly with Cosima. She knew she'd had to use it often herself. Particularly at such gatherings.

 

And now Cosima hoped she wasn't reading too much into it, but she thought Delphine was hinting at not being entirely straight either. And, honestly, the way she was looking at her and touching her was either champagne-induced involuntary invasion of her vital space or really pointed flirtation. So she took a leap of faith, like she always did, fully seeing the potential disaster looming, but hoping against hope.

 

Or maybe not against hope. Because, as soon as she asked Delphine if she wanted to go somewhere quieter – again, not her wittiest retort – she grabbed her hand and led her to the rest of the immense apartment. Specifically a bedroom. A spacious bedroom with a luxurious bed and wide windows looking over the neighborhood.

 

 

 

* * *

Afterwards, they went their separate way, acting as if nothing had happened. Well, Cosima thought they gave it a fair try. In any case, they'd kept coming back to each other, talking on and off. Not about science anymore. They shared their respective worldviews, brushed intimate subjects and recalled interesting past stories.

 

It was now close to midnight. They were seating on a couch, the party having died down a lot. Cosima thought they were overstaying their welcome but Delphine seemed intent on not moving from here. That is, until the host came to them. Host that Cosima immediately recognized as one of her role model, Pr Françoise Cormier. Which, consequently, is when she realized how stupid she'd been. Of course Delphine would know where to find a bedroom here, and feel completely at home.

 

After greeting them in English, she started talking to Delphine in French.

_\- Delphine, tu as passé la soirée à parler à cette femme. Et tu as disparu en plein milieu. Tu aurais pu faire un effort. Je ne comprends pas, je croyais que tu étais impatiente de participer à cette conférence._

_\- La conférence, pas la soirée._

_\- Tu sais que c'est l'occasion de créer des liens et faire bonne impression auprès des pontes de tous domaines._

\- _Maman, j'ai rempli mes obligations ce soir. J'ai joué le rôle de la fille des Prs Cormier et Lescure à la lettre. Tu ne vas pas en plus te plaindre que j'apprécie de discuter avec une collègue._

_\- Seulement discuter ?_

_\- Qu'est-ce que tu insinues ?_

 

Though barely knowing three words in French, Cosima quickly picked up on the fight mother and daughter were having. At this point, they were joined by a man, probably said Pr Lescure, husband and father. She couldn't tell if he was trying to calm things down or adding fuel to the fire. But she decided she was through letting things play out.

Playing the good guest, she introduced herself as _Dr Cosima Niehaus. It is an honor to meet you. This was a beautiful party, thank you, Pr Cormier, Pr Lescure._

This seemed to be enough to postpone the fight. Though she could see Delphine fuming and decided to invite her to leave together, _sharing a cab would really help_.

 

Once in the cab, Delphine jokingly asked _Did you really need to share the fare, or was this just a ruse to get me back to your hotel?_

 _Actually, I needed help giving directions to the driver. But I am getting you back in bed too_ , she added with the same charming smile she'd been using all night on her.

She got no answer from Delphine, who turned to stare through the window.

 _I'm sorry_ , she started backtracking, before Delphine turned back to her, stopping her, _No, don't, you didn't misinterpret anything. I would love to spend your last night in Paris with you._ Hesitating, she added, _Not necessarily in bed, though._

 _What did you have in mind?_ Cosima encouraged her.

 _I thought we could get changed and do something. We could go dance, get a drink. Anything. Whatever you wanna do. It is barely one in the morning._ This surprised Cosima. She had pegged Delphine as the quiet type, who preferred a one-on-one conversation in an intimate setting to a club or a bar. She supposed she wanted to drown her thoughts right now. Which would explain her hesitance and almost guilty look.

So she answered with a maybe overenthusiastic _Yes_ , but who cares really, she got to spend her last night partying with a beautiful like-minded French scientist.

 

 

 

* * *

 

In the end, they didn't even change. They just went to an expensive and classy nightclub. The music wasn't exactly what Cosima liked but she was not going to complain. Not with Delphine dancing like _that_ in front of her. Or against, rather. A few hours of that pseudo-grinding later, they'd drank a few drinks and smoked Cosima's joint. After exiting, Cosima was obviously hesitant to ask Delphine to come back to her hotel.

 _Is something wrong?_ she asked.

 _No, no_ , she quickly replied, _I'm just not sure how much longer we have before I have to leave._

 _You do know we'll keep in touch, don't you? s_ he hesitantly teased.

 _I know, I know. I had a more immediate concern..._ she trailed off, Delphine nodding in agreement.

 

So, they went back to the hotel for the little time they had left.

And were almost late for the flight.

Flight through which Cosima slept like a log.

 

After calling her family, she opened Skype, hoping to see a friend request. And was disappointed, especially knowing the whole day had gone by in France.

It was only midday here, she wasn't tired one bit, and she was hungrier than she could ever remember. So she decided to meet with her friends, uppermost Scott, who was dying to get every details on the convention.

 

When she woke up the next day, she had gotten the request, and saw that Delphine was online. She must have been at work at this hour. She didn't have time to ponder calling or messaging, because Delphine beat her to it. She explained she could not call at the moment and couldn't talk long but wanted to know she had arrived safely.

 

After that, their lives were so busy that they barely skyped, a few half hours here and there when they could. Their budding friendship would have ebbed away if not for Cosima's traveling back and forth for her job. Some of their partners working at a Parisian university, she had been tasked with collaborating with their lab.

 

Cosima got to meet Delphine's friends and visit Paris with her. But she felt that she was avoiding any familial interaction in her presence. After a few times, she asked her about it. Admittedly, she wasn't as understanding as she should have been, but Delphine wasn't being too forthcoming either. For the first time, they parted angry. She could not understand why she was hiding her from her parents, it's not like they were doing anything she thought they would disapprove of. They were friends, they could be really close friends, given time. During her flight, she pondered just apologizing, but she knew they would never get to the bottom of it if she did. But then again, what was she gonna do? Just refrain from talking to her? She didn't want to do that, she was not angry anymore, and she knew she was going to miss her if they did stop talking.

 

When she got home, she still hadn't reached a decision, and Delphine hadn't written. It was late and she had to work the next day. She also knew to give Delphine enough space to process things. Which might not be a bad idea for herself too. She had a tendency to act impulsively, not always to her best interest. This time, she would take her time, step back and be analytical.

But first, sleep. Then, work.

 

 

* * *

 

Well, she tried. She would surely have succeeded, even if Delphine hadn't apologized so soon.

She'd sent an email, explaining that her parents didn't approve of some of her “life choices” and that they had arbitrarily deemed Cosima one of these. She felt they didn't deserve to know what was going on in her life, she didn't care to correct them if they wanted to assume they were sleeping together. She understood that Cosima was close to her family but she wasn't and they would never be a part of her real life. Meaning she played the role when needed, and only then.

 

It was the middle of the night now in France. She had to wait for a more decent hour to call. Except Delphine never came online. She had expected her to wanna talk about it in person. Apparently not. So she resorted to emailing back., apologizing herself. They kept emailing and skyping until her next trip to Paris, and went back to their routine.

 

One day, Delphine greeted her at the airport, having insisted on picking her up. They had some time before Cosima had to meet her French colleague. She apparently had some great news to share.

 _I'm moving to Vancouver_ , she announced.

 _They said yes? Quelle question, of course they said yes. When do you leave?_ she asked.

Delphine smiled at the French and replied something about a visa, but Cosima almost cut her off with a _This is great. Vancouver is, like, three hours away by plane._

 _I know. We checked together, remember?_ she teased.

After that, they kept reworking their plans for meeting more often in North America, visiting as much as possible at first. Seattle seemed a good compromise for both, in the long term. Until Cosima was late, unsurprisingly.

 

A few days after getting back, Delphine told her she would have two weeks to get settled before starting her new job. Two weeks during which she intended to visit the west coast. Cosima readily proposed to be her guide.

 

In the end, Cosima only got one week free from work, during which they traveled along the PCH. The first week, they spent in San Francisco. Delphine met Cosima's friends and family. She bonded over science with Scott, and immediately liked Cosima's parents. She knew they were professors at UCSF and had imagined them less friendly. Cosima could not resist endlessly teasing her about it afterwards. _I mean, have you met me?_

 

During their road-trip, they fell in a surprisingly familiar routine, given they'd never spent more than a week together before. Obviously, there were some mishaps, but they chose to take them with humor and were never weird about it. All in all, they complemented each other nicely, Cosima thought. It was most probably helped by the now two years of long-distance friendship. Also, the circumstances of their meeting. At least for Cosima, having been naked in front of Delphine before made it that much easier to not be embarrassed about it now.

 

 

* * *

 

When they came back, each to their city, they went back to their routine, though they had more time to talk now, being in the same time zone. After a couple of months, Delphine seemed to need to spend more time with Cosima. Cosima figured she was lonely, and she willingly made more time for her, so much so that Scott thought they were dating.

 

Which made her think. Did she want to? They certainly had become very close. They talked every night now, and she could see herself growing old with Delphine. But did she want it to stay platonic? Obviously, the choice was not only hers, but was she open to the idea of a romantic relationship with Delphine? She wasn't afraid of ruining their friendship, she was sure it was stronger than a botched attempt at dating. Well, for now, she was fine with how things were. But if Delphine ever showed interest in more, it seems she wouldn't be averse to it.

 

Evidently, they couldn't keep talking that much all the time, and they went back to skyping a few times per week. They also tried to meet about once every two or three months. Delphine had been making friends and was now nicely settled in her Vancouver life, despite her proclaimed hate of the humidity. Cosima knew she was used to it in Paris and truly loved the Canadian city.

 

As things were, Cosima's joint american-french paper had just been published in a good journal. Delphine had it framed as a present for her. She also took some time off to come down to celebrate. They'd never actually done the whole traveling all over the US, as they'd planned. So Cosima suggested they go to Chicago for a long weekend.

 

There, they shared a room, and once again, fell into a comfortable pattern. Or so Cosima thought. Because when Delphine walked in on her getting dressed, she panicked and left the room quicker than a cheetah on crack. _Way to be inconspicuous, Ms Cormier_ , reasoned Cosima. Knowing Delphine would brush the subject when she was ready, she said nothing and went about her business for the rest of the trip, just making sure she locked the door when needed, for Delphine's sake. Delphine never said anything and the rest of their journey went by smoothly. Cosima sensed it was an act, granted very convincing, but an act all the same.

 

Delphine disappeared for a few days after getting back. Then she got an email of explanation. She was saying that she had apparently developped romantic feelings, or at least some sort of physical attraction, for Cosima. She understood the risk for their friendship and needed a little time to get over it. Cosima knew that Delphine felt more comfortable talking about her feelings in writing, but this required a conversation in person. She flew to Vancouver the next day. It was a Saturday and she hoped to stay the night, whatever the outcome.

 

She needed to explain. Explain that she didn't mind. That they could give it a shot if Delphine wanted to. That even if it didn't work out, it wouldn't be the end of their friendship. That their friendship was stronger and deeper than any failed romantic endeavour.

 


End file.
